The Books of Origin
There are several books of Origin spinning a grand tale of the beginning of Cloudai, all of them told to First Knights by their Gods. The first was written by a man named Bezzers, First Knight and loyal servant to the holy god Aecor, ruler of tides and commander of oceans. His tale was one of great use to the world, for it clarified much of the dark past surrounding the universe. Its passages can be read below. A time before Cloudai, when Valic roamed the empty space alone The first God, Valic the unseen, was an ancient and omnipotent Dragon God ruling the emptiness alongside his brother, Fafnir. Valic only wanted to roam and explore the empty space, in search of other life, and his heart was good and intentions pure. However, Fafnir, his opposite, Insisted that they were the only life, and should do with the space as they pleased. Valic, however, dismissed such an idea. Angered at his brothers indifference, he opened his mouth wide and let out a terrifying roar that tore through the very fabric of the space they roamed, distorting it and creating the occurrence we call 'time'. Valic was furious at this. Not only had his brother gone against his words, but seemingly he had damaged the only thing that they knew was certain. In anger, he confronted his brother, only to find that his sole companion would not listen to his reason, but instead chose to try and overpower Valic, and claim the space as his own. The battle raged on for centuries, and their throes of war were so great that the space shuddered, splitting and tearing into multiple dimensions and parallel universes. Only at long last did Valic manage to subdue his mad brother for long enough to create a seal around him. And this was how matter was created. Fafnir was puzzled at this new creation, for it would not yield before his strength. For all his might he could not pass it. However, Valic feared that this was not enough, and so added another layer. This time it was not a solid, but a brand new form, a liquid, which didnt wholly cover the previous layer. Then he created another, but as his strength began to ebb from the effort of such things, this one was barely substantial, the very thing that we call the air. For many decades, this was enough, however as time passed, Fafnir began to learn about this new substance, and managed to begin breaking free, much to the dismay of Valic. Fearing the worst, the almighty one drew up all of his strength, and created three more, powerful seals, each in his own image and each representing a layer. These new beings were sentient and powerful, known as Ventus, Aecor and Obcasus. The power of these three new seals managed to strengthen the older layers, and for the time being Fafnir was subdued. However the three beings were restless. They each wanted to reign the topmost layer themselves, and eventually they began to fight and bicker amongst themselves, causing the original three layers to crack. To Valic's astonishment, these three could all conjure up their own sentient beings, and used these to war with each other. Valic then created the voice of reason amongst the three, the mother of all dragons, Matrona. She quelled their hearts and persuaded them to work together. Aecor and Ventus were in agreement, but Obcasus fought still, and was banished by the remaining three to guard the bottom layer with his Wyvern army. For some time Valic watched over the peaceful lands, now swarming with life and activity, hiding himself away. But Fafnir was not defeated yet. Similarly to Valic, he managed to create a being that was not only in his image physically, but also mentally. Warring, destructive and just as mad, he created the God of Chaos, Labes. It was only a matter of weeks before Labes made his way through the first seal and began to roam the lands, corrupting or killing all before him. Like the three original Gods, he could not be controlled and so did as he pleased, destroying the beautiful lands. It was only now that valic revealed himself to Ventus and his wife, Matrona. He appeared in a vision, and told them what must be done. The cycle had to start over, and so Valic mustered the power to place the embodiment of himself down upon the land, A new and powerful God named Immunis. At the command of Valic, Matrona and Ventus had a child, to accompany Immunis. His name was Caeruleum, the wisest of the kings. The combined might of the Gods overwhelmed Labes, and nearly destroyed him. However, Valic saw use for him. Swaying the God against his own creator, Labes swore to keep his father at bay, much to Fafnir's rage. By now, Valic had an understanding of how many seals were needed. He created as many new seals as he could possibly muster, and in the process created Tellus, who would rule the land between the domains of Aecor and Obcasus, along with Cruor, blessed with the knowledge needed to defeat Fafnir once more if it were required. However the last needed seal was not one he could make. It had to be one that came from the land itself. And so Cruor was last Dragon King created by Valic, the only female of the group. Valic was prepared to partner her with Aecor, but then another crossed his thoughts. Surely if the child of a dragon born of the Earth was to have a child, then it would come from the land itself? However Aecor believed that Cruor was destined to be his. Surely the second dragon king would get the second female? But Caeruleum protested at the order of Valic. The two fought bitterly, both for their own beliefs. Upon the destruction of Caeruleum's wings, however, it was clear that Valic needed to step it. As one of the original three, Aecor would overpower Caeruleum eventually. Aecor, despite his desires, stood down and let Caeruleum defeat him at Valic's command. And so Cruor became the wife of Caeruleum, and the two had a child, but not before Caeruleum had made himself a steel suit and declared his dislike of Aecor. Born of the ferocity of Cruor and the cold steel of Caeruleum, the final Dragon King emerged. His presence froze over entire portions of the ocean, an embodiment of Caeruleum's anger at Aecor. His name was Chablys, the eighth and final dragon king. With the last seal in place, Valic could do no more for the world. He christened the world he had created 'Cloudai', in honour of its ability to remain good and light even with darkness often plaguing its surfaces. Despite the peace, their world was dying, plagued by darkness that radiated from Fafnir. Valic decided to do the only thing he could without destroying what he had created. He shrunk the world down, along with himself and Fafnir, and curled up beside it, wrapping himself in a cocoon of fire that lit the world with it's warmth, before falling into a sleep that would last billions of years. His mind continued to wage war with Fafnir, and a small part of him continued to reach out across the space like he had done originally, ever searching and enjoying, creating as he goes. The second book details a great war that was fundamental in shaping how we see Cloudai today. It was written by a man named Goomy, who, while he was not the First Knight of his god, Immunis, he was powerful to a tremendous extent, closing in on the power of Immunis' First Knight, Fistofdoom. His writings can be read below. It had been many a moon since the gods had settled in their places under the watchful eye of Valic. However, as time passed Valic became less vigilant of Fafnir. And Fafnir took this to his advantage. He sought to bring an end to the peace that had fallen in the realm and the bitterness between Labes and Immunis could be felt throughout the cosmos, Fafnir had found his way to end the peace. He had been training to breach the seals that bound him, and had learnt to communicate with Labes, filling his thoughts with rage and twisted ideas. Labes was pushed over the edge. Labes lost control of himself and in a ferocious rage called all his might, boosted by the power of Fafnir he broke the seal that bound him, he sent his armies rushing through the layers of the world pillaging those who worshiped his greatest foe. The pain and suffering rippled through the realm with a biting chill, and Immunis did sense this and turn his gaze to it. By this time Labes had fought hisway to Immunis himself, the two stood facing each other ready for battle. And Immunis did stare into the soul of Labes and proclaim him to be without sanity, he let out a mighty roar to quell the insanity inside Labes but he could not, Immunis beat Labes back with all his might, though even in great pain Labes did laugh to himself with a menacing grimace. Labes did not raise a hand to Immunis and continued to laugh maniacally. Immunis saw no benefit to beating down someone who understood no reason and had broke free from exile to not defend himself, he stopped the assault, taking time to contact his followers to quell the corrupt armies of Labes, for the mortals could not hold true insanity like that of their idol, and to defeat them would have purpose to restore the peace. Though this was the corrupt plan of the god of chaos, during the time Immunis was distracted Labes did send his followers to the fight the strongest faction of Immunis before they could prepare. This was the first official battle of the the war in the mortal realm, It became know as 'The battle for sight' this was because it was a siege on the head quarters of the faction The Piercing Sight (Worshipers of Immunis),the Fortress of Aligning. The battle raged for 10 days and ten knight, the onslaught of Labes forces did not relent. On the fifth day, when the under rested followers of Immunis fought they were pushed down. The insane do not suffer from fatigue for they need no sleep. The gate of the mighty fortress began to strain and on the 6th day the grand Gate keeper did fall to the blade of an unknown soldier of Labes. With the fall of the Gate keeper the soldiers of Immunis did find a new force to fight back, they did push the dark forces away from the gate. Both sides did pray to their God for help, however Labes had gone into hiding to regain strength for a final stand off with Immunis, who was searching for him. With no reply from their Gods, and a stalemate on the battle field both sides agreed to a cease fire. 10 days of fighting had left them all weary, the soldiers of Labes returned to their homes, while the faction of Immunis did rebuild their home. Immunis was called before the other Gods. For once Immunis was not the one to settle a dispute, but the one to be judged. However, Ventus, Aecor and Obcasus refused involvement, they tended to their layers and saw no reason to try and fight Immunis and Labes, for they knew it would only bring more destruction. also the power of both Immunis and Labes was so great to have to fight both of them at once would be an almost unstoppable task even for the 3 original seals. Caeruleum, Chalybs, Tellus and Cruor stood before Immunis. the charged him to call peace with Labes like their respective followers had done. However immunis could not let go of the things Labes had done to his followers, the injust actions had to be accounted for. And Immunis, in a voice that boomed through out existence roared 'Those who would allow evil to spread go unpunished in order to protect themselves were as bad as the evil that they intended to set free'. This angered Chalybs, Tellus and Cruor. Though in his wisdom Caeruleum knew to step down and let Immunis carry on his search for labes, he came to understand why the 3 original seals had not interfered. he returned to his home, leaving the others, including his own wife, Cruor. Chalybs, Tellus and Cruor took it upon themselves to force Immunis to agree with them, they could not see the long term plans of the other dragon gods. It was terrible mistake. Immunis took in a breath so deep that time itself began to slow, the mortal world would not see the battle as they were caught in the gravity of the slowed time. Immunis was created for order and he did proclaim judgement on the 3 gods who opposed him, he knew off all their weaknesses and did strike them down swiftly, the 3 gods were left crippled, unprepared for the fight, they had underestimated the true strength of Immunis. in their weakened state Immunis places a seal on the 3 gods to bind them, they would not be able to break free until they had recovered from the ordeal. Immunis spoke to his followers and told them to stand for justice and purge the followers of Labes. Labes in kind told his followers to stand for him and defend themselves to end order. Time had returned to it's normal pace and Orbis was moving again. Skirmishes between the followers of Labes and Immunis continued, however no great battles to match the the battle for sight were fought. the remaining gods turned a blind eye for they could see Immunis was closing in on labes, and that the war would be over soon. After a year of searching Immunis found Labes, who was now ready to face him in a true battle. Immunis created a great barrier around himself and Labes, so that neither could harm any innocents with the aftermath of their attacks. And they did wage a mighty brawl that would be resonate thought all of time and for all time. Immunis fought with structured maneuvers against the frantic lashes by Labes. Immunis could not predict how Labes would attack but Labes could not breach the defense of Immunis. Both took heavy blows, though unlike the mortals they did not tire or crumble they raged on. Immunis could not afford to maintain the barrier whilst fighting Labes, for the two were opposites of equal strength. Immunis spotted a flaw in the attacks of Labes he did not react to counter Immunis, he just attacked. Immunis stepped back and generated a mighty blast of pure energy at Labes. But once again Labes had been planning something, he knew this would happen and so himself did the same. The pulses of energy collided, the force so great that the cosmic balance was offset. The seals Immunis placed on the 3 who opposed him were broken and the seal around Fafnir began to buckle. it was at this that the almighty Valic drew his attention back to the gods and Orbis. In an instant Immunis and Labes found themselves caught in his power. They struggled for breath even though they needed no oxygen, they struggled to break free but could not. Valic let out a decree 'There will be an end to this, or in the name of Valic shall you be cast out and sealed away like Fafnir. Labes laughed and hugged Immunis, who in obedience to Valic did not respond. the gods did return to their homes and call an end to the war on Orbis. in the Human scrolls this war became known as the war of cosmic balance, for it was two opposites that threatened the integrity of all of existence. *afternote: It is thought that this unknown Solider of Labes was actually Albgast Vulpes* There is one other, overshadowed great book, and that is 'The Blood' It was written by a man named Kirito, who was not a First Knight nor did his power withstand that of the First Knight of Caerulem. His unique link to the god of war, was his warlike mindset and battle lust that drove him. His book is not detailed here, as it contradicts many of the other stories told and is not as widely accepted as the other two.